Daniel 8

New King James Version

Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8 In^[a]the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appearedtome—to me, Daniel—after the one that appeared to me^(A)the first time.² I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that Iwasin^(B)Shushan,^[b]the^[c]citadel, whichisin the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai.³ Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two hornswerehigh; but onewas^(C)higher than the other, and the higheronecame up last.⁴ I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could^[d]withstand him; norwas there anythat could deliver from his hand,^(D)but he did according to his will and became great.

⁵ And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goathada notable^(E)horn between his eyes.⁶ Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power.⁷ And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him,^[e]attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

⁸ Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it^(F)four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.^9 (G)And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south,^(H)toward the east, and toward the^(I)GloriousLand.^10 (J)And it grew up to^(K)the host of heaven; and^(L)it cast downsomeof the host andsomeof the stars to the ground, and trampled them.^11 (M)He even exaltedhimselfas high as^(N)the Prince of the host;^(O)and by him^(P)the dailysacrificeswere taken away, and the place of^[f]His sanctuary was cast down.¹² Because of transgression,^(Q)an army was given overto the hornto oppose the dailysacrifices;and he cast^(R)truth down to the ground. He^(S)didall thisand prospered.

¹³ Then I heard^(T)a holy one speaking; andanotherholy one said to that certainonewho was speaking, “How longwillthe visionbe, concerningthe dailysacrificesand the transgression^[g]of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”

¹⁴ And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred^[h]days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Gabriel Interprets the Vision

¹⁵ Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and^(U)was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me^(V)one having the appearance of a man.¹⁶ And I heard a man’s voice^(W)betweenthe banks ofthe Ulai, who called, and said,^(X)“Gabriel, make thismanunderstand the vision.”¹⁷ So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and^(Y)fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the visionrefersto the time of the end.”

^18 (Z)Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground;^(AA)but he touched me, and stood me upright.¹⁹ And he said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation;^(AB)for at the appointed time the endshall be.²⁰ The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they arethe kings of Media and Persia.²¹ And the^[i]male goatisthe^[j]kingdom of Greece. The large horn thatisbetween its eyes^(AC)isthe first king.^22 (AD)As for the brokenhornand the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

^27 (AN)And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was^[o]astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.